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Approach to live shows: DeGraw said he believes perfrming live is one of the most important elements of the music industry. He said his new album, "Sweeter," has "really lit a fire for the live show," in part because of the variety of songs that it offers. Even so, he doesn't plan to neglect the chart-topping hits that many fans still buy a ticket to hear him play. "It's always about the next thing, right? But you're always going to include the things that got you there to begin with. Those rungs are always going to be important to the ladder," he said. "You want to keep sprinkling the set with songs that they recognize, and then introduce something that you think they will receive well."

Gavin DeGraw doesn't want to be anything other than what he has been trying to be lately.

He endeavors to evolve as a musician who goes out of his way to bare his true persona, whether that involves offering a mature perspective on relationships, or revealing a sense of humor previously untapped in his songwriting.

To that end, the 34-year-old New Yorker for the first time recently sought the input of collaborators to help him reach his goals. Armed with renewed inspiration and a teamwork approach, DeGraw set out to paint a thorough self-portrait through his lyrics, and soon made one swift discovery:

The brush strokes didn't form many straight lines.

"Nobody is linear," DeGraw said in a telephone interview last week. "So therefore, if I wrote an album that was strictly linear, painting this image of myself that I wanted everyone to see, one that was impossible to be in real life, then that would be a lie."

One thing his September release, "Sweeter," can't be accused of is lacking in honesty. DeGraw's new album showcases lyrical risk-taking in songs such as the title track, while showing a depth of understanding in ballads such as the yearning "Not Over You" that can only come with life experience.

Part of his musical transformation, DeGraw said, stems from trying to apply a concept that many of us might agree is easier said than done: He stopped caring about what other people think of him.

"It was always a factor and, honestly, it was stifling," DeGraw said. "It was just time to shed that skin. Even though that may have seemed better in some ways, it wasn't completely as sincere as exposing the different types of characteristics one person may have.

"Prior images of myself were incomplete. They were more one-sided, and this is more multidimensional," he said. "You don't divulge every element of your persona in your art, but sometimes you might over-edit."

"Sweeter" offers a handful of comfortable, piano-based ballads that address various relationship issues while managing to avoid sounding repetitive. Other songs, such as the title track and "Radiation," are faster-moving, catchy numbers defined by their sensual overtones.

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DeGraw, whose previous hits include "In Love With a Girl," "Follow Through" and "I Don't Want To Be," said he knew he was onto something while penning the title track to his fourth album.

He and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder -- author of the band's hits such as "Apologize" and "All The Right Moves" and who also wrote Beyonce's "Halo" -- were penning lyrics in a Nashville, Tenn., studio when DeGraw ran a line past his colleague he was thinking about including in "Sweeter." It went like this:

"You went to school and found out you're dumb/Maybe you just had too much fun"

Said DeGraw: "And I look at him and I said, 'Can we say that?' He said, 'Yeah, man, why not?' You have to say that. You can say anything you want."

Even so, for a moment, DeGraw said, he was unsure the line would stick.

"I was thinking it would say so much, but it's just too rude, you know? But at the same time, it's so damn funny," he said. "Finally we decided, yeah, it has to be like that. Let's keep it. Absolutely."

DeGraw said that specific exchange with Tedder struck him as a turning point in the growth of his songwriting.

"It was those moments that really freed me artistically," he said.

DeGraw said collaborators such as Tedder and songwriter Andrew Frampton, who has worked with The Script and Natasha Bedingfield, encouraged him to take an artistic leap of faith that included revealing snapshots of his personality traits they saw when the musicians spent time together away from work. Tedder and Frampton each co-wrote two songs on the album.

"I was motivated by people around me to just step forward and not be hesitant about what I pursue artistically and the things I want to say," he said. "I was just having conversations with people socially, who I trust and am friends with, and who are in the music industry as well.

"We'd be hanging out, and they'd say things to me like, 'Man, I wish you'd just expose some more of this side of you to your music. Don't hide this.'"

DeGraw said "Sweeter" has been well-received by fans, from the reaction he has seen at live shows. The musician said he trusted that fans who were supportive of his previous work would be open-minded to his shift in direction.

"There's always going to be uncertainty, that's for sure. But artistically, it's important to consider moving forward," he said. "You want the fans from your earlier stages of your career to come with you. At the same time, you don't want to hold yourself back artistically, creatively and personally."

Achieving this balance, he said, is the crowning accomplishment of "Sweeter," and why it is the musical work of which he is the most proud.

"This record feels, artistically, like I am finally hitting my stride, and that's what's so exciting about it," DeGraw said.